Fertility & birth rates in Liberia and Sierra Leone

Fertility rate in Liberia vs Sierra Leone chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Liberia was 3.95 children per woman in 2023, compared to 3.79 in Sierra Leone in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Liberia vs Sierra Leone population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Liberia	Sierra Leone
1960	6.39	6.18
1961	6.45	6.21
1962	6.5	6.22
1963	6.56	6.26
1964	6.59	6.29
1965	6.62	6.31
1966	6.63	6.35
1967	6.65	6.38
1968	6.66	6.39
1969	6.64	6.39
1970	6.58	6.41
1971	6.54	6.43
1972	6.6	6.45
1973	6.65	6.47
1974	6.69	6.53
1975	6.74	6.55
1976	6.79	6.55
1977	6.84	6.57
1978	6.88	6.59
1979	6.92	6.58
1980	6.87	6.56
1981	6.83	6.55
1982	6.79	6.56
1983	6.76	6.57
1984	6.73	6.59
1985	6.69	6.59
1986	6.64	6.6
1987	6.57	6.61
1988	6.51	6.59
1989	6.43	6.57
1990	6.37	6.57
1991	6.32	6.55
1992	6.28	6.56
1993	6.25	6.57
1994	6.21	6.56
1995	6.17	6.56
1996	6.13	6.55
1997	6.08	6.53
1998	6.02	6.5
1999	5.95	6.42
2000	5.88	6.36
2001	5.77	6.31
2002	5.65	6.23
2003	5.55	6.09
2004	5.51	5.92
2005	5.52	5.81
2006	5.53	5.74
2007	5.46	5.64
2008	5.33	5.56
2009	5.17	5.45
2010	5.06	5.33
2011	4.97	5.21
2012	4.88	5.06
2013	4.75	4.87
2014	4.62	4.7
2015	4.52	4.55
2016	4.46	4.47
2017	4.4	4.39
2018	4.34	4.29
2019	4.26	4.19
2020	4.17	4.08
2021	4.09	3.98
2022	4.02	3.88
2023	3.95	3.79
2024	3.86	3.7
2025	3.79	3.61
2026	3.71	3.53
2027	3.64	3.47
2028	3.57	3.37
2029	3.51	3.3
2030	3.43	3.23
2031	3.38	3.18
2032	3.31	3.12
2033	3.25	3.07
2034	3.2	3.02
2035	3.15	2.97
2036	3.11	2.92
2037	3.06	2.88
2038	3.02	2.84
2039	2.98	2.79
2040	2.94	2.76
2041	2.91	2.72
2042	2.87	2.68
2043	2.83	2.65
2044	2.8	2.62
2045	2.77	2.58
2046	2.73	2.55
2047	2.7	2.53
2048	2.68	2.5
2049	2.65	2.47
2050	2.62	2.45

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Liberia	Sierra Leone
1960	41.1%	38.2%
1961	41.1%	38.3%
1962	41.2%	38.3%
1963	41.4%	38.5%
1964	41.7%	38.8%
1965	42%	39.1%
1966	42.2%	39.4%
1967	42.4%	39.6%
1968	42.6%	39.9%
1969	42.8%	40.1%
1970	42.9%	40.3%
1971	43%	40.6%
1972	43.2%	40.7%
1973	43.3%	40.9%
1974	43.4%	41.1%
1975	43.5%	41.3%
1976	43.6%	41.4%
1977	43.7%	41.6%
1978	43.8%	41.7%
1979	43.9%	41.8%
1980	44%	41.9%
1981	44.1%	42%
1982	44.2%	42.1%
1983	44.2%	42.2%
1984	44.2%	42.3%
1985	44.2%	42.5%
1986	44.3%	42.6%
1987	44.3%	42.7%
1988	44.2%	42.8%
1989	44.1%	42.9%
1990	44.1%	42.9%
1991	44.2%	43%
1992	44.1%	43.1%
1993	43.9%	43.2%
1994	43.8%	43.3%
1995	43.6%	43.4%
1996	43.4%	43.5%
1997	43.3%	43.5%
1998	43.2%	43.6%
1999	43.1%	43.7%
2000	43%	43.8%
2001	43%	43.9%
2002	42.9%	43.9%
2003	42.9%	43.9%
2004	42.9%	43.9%
2005	43%	43.8%
2006	43.1%	43.7%
2007	43.2%	43.6%
2008	43.2%	43.5%
2009	43.1%	43.4%
2010	43.1%	43.2%
2011	42.7%	43%
2012	42.4%	42.8%
2013	42.5%	42.5%
2014	42.5%	42.2%
2015	42.4%	41.8%
2016	42.3%	41.4%
2017	42.1%	41%
2018	42%	40.6%
2019	41.7%	40.2%
2020	41.4%	39.8%
2021	41%	39.4%
2022	40.5%	39%
2023	40%	38.5%
2024	39.5%	38.1%
2025	39.1%	37.7%
2026	38.6%	37.2%
2027	38.1%	36.8%
2028	37.7%	36.3%
2029	37.2%	35.9%
2030	36.9%	35.5%
2031	36.5%	35.2%
2032	36.2%	34.8%
2033	35.8%	34.4%
2034	35.5%	34%
2035	35.2%	33.6%
2036	34.9%	33.2%
2037	34.5%	32.8%
2038	34.2%	32.4%
2039	33.9%	32%
2040	33.6%	31.6%
2041	33.2%	31.2%
2042	32.9%	30.9%
2043	32.6%	30.5%
2044	32.3%	30.2%
2045	32%	29.8%
2046	31.6%	29.5%
2047	31.3%	29.2%
2048	31%	28.8%
2049	30.7%	28.5%
2050	30.4%	28.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 39.5% of the population in Liberia and 38.1% in Sierra Leone in 2024, compared to 44.1% and 42.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Liberia and Sierra Leone compared.

Natural population change in Liberia vs Sierra Leone by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.41% in Liberia and +2.31% in Sierra Leone. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Liberia	Sierra Leone
1960	25,713	38,192
1961	26,670	40,022
1962	27,679	41,603
1963	28,708	43,569
1964	29,592	45,487
1965	30,618	47,223
1966	31,454	49,486
1967	32,519	51,734
1968	33,536	53,126
1969	34,677	54,768
1970	35,196	56,513
1971	36,015	58,484
1972	37,860	60,279
1973	39,694	62,443
1974	41,499	65,357
1975	43,478	67,560
1976	45,528	69,506
1977	47,582	71,663
1978	49,813	74,130
1979	52,125	75,992
1980	53,452	77,932
1981	55,003	80,111
1982	56,127	82,457
1983	57,562	84,628
1984	59,460	87,072
1985	59,988	88,869
1986	61,924	90,902
1987	62,147	94,235
1988	62,703	96,344
1989	63,238	98,298
1990	52,770	100,778
1991	47,426	105,477
1992	50,204	103,251
1993	51,609	103,317
1994	52,101	101,486
1995	53,407	100,885
1996	56,392	104,140
1997	61,444	105,433
1998	72,146	103,906
1999	78,130	102,295
2000	83,143	110,754
2001	86,217	116,647
2002	88,643	126,429
2003	87,534	130,312
2004	91,755	132,661
2005	96,478	137,234
2006	104,099	144,127
2007	109,165	145,740
2008	112,032	149,855
2009	113,429	152,669
2010	114,249	155,338
2011	115,496	158,858
2012	121,973	160,915
2013	120,138	161,265
2014	116,667	160,137
2015	115,479	162,275
2016	118,852	168,784
2017	119,376	173,259
2018	120,231	178,772
2019	120,635	181,068
2020	120,632	181,015
2021	121,038	183,326
2022	123,747	186,625
2023	125,730	188,788

Maternal mortality chart: Liberia vs Sierra Leone

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 628 deaths per 100,000 live births in Liberia, compared to 354 deaths in Sierra Leone.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Liberia	Sierra Leone
1985	1,749	1,506
1986	1,678	1,530
1987	1,655	1,533
1988	1,647	1,549
1989	1,633	1,575
1990	2,146	1,572
1991	1,627	1,699
1992	1,643	1,681
1993	1,709	1,696
1994	1,811	1,755
1995	1,530	1,777
1996	1,438	1,726
1997	1,043	1,721
1998	962	1,753
1999	852	1,731
2000	786	1,603
2001	720	1,518
2002	700	1,492
2003	759	1,433
2004	645	1,366
2005	619	1,294
2006	647	1,168
2007	659	1,132
2008	663	1,093
2009	674	1,054
2010	712	1,018
2011	726	967
2012	728	915
2013	725	842
2014	801	821
2015	784	730
2016	690	633
2017	703	578
2018	707	491
2019	689	464
2020	664	422
2021	667	403
2022	634	370
2023	628	354

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 7.29% in Liberia and 9.43% in Sierra Leone. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Liberia	Sierra Leone
1960	31.3%	39.1%
1961	31.3%	38.5%
1962	31.3%	38%
1963	31.2%	37.4%
1964	31.1%	36.8%
1965	30.8%	36.2%
1966	30.6%	35.6%
1967	30.2%	35%
1968	29.8%	34.5%
1969	29.3%	33.9%
1970	28.8%	33.4%
1971	28.3%	32.9%
1972	27.8%	32.3%
1973	27.4%	31.9%
1974	26.9%	31.4%
1975	26.5%	30.9%
1976	26%	30.5%
1977	25.6%	30%
1978	25.3%	29.6%
1979	24.9%	29.2%
1980	24.6%	28.9%
1981	24.3%	28.5%
1982	24.1%	28.1%
1983	24%	27.8%
1984	24.1%	27.5%
1985	24.3%	27.2%
1986	24.7%	26.9%
1987	25.2%	26.6%
1988	25.8%	26.4%
1989	26.4%	26.2%
1990	26.8%	25.9%
1991	27%	25.7%
1992	26.9%	25.5%
1993	26.6%	25.3%
1994	25.9%	25%
1995	25.1%	24.7%
1996	24.1%	24.3%
1997	23%	23.9%
1998	21.8%	23.4%
1999	20.5%	22.9%
2000	19.2%	22.4%
2001	17.9%	21.8%
2002	16.7%	21.3%
2003	15.4%	20.7%
2004	14.3%	20.1%
2005	13.3%	19.4%
2006	12.5%	18.8%
2007	11.8%	18.1%
2008	11.3%	17.3%
2009	10.8%	16.6%
2010	10.4%	15.9%
2011	10.1%	15.2%
2012	9.82%	14.5%
2013	9.54%	13.9%
2014	9.5%	13.7%
2015	9.08%	13.8%
2016	8.83%	12.3%
2017	8.6%	11.8%
2018	8.4%	11.3%
2019	8.19%	10.9%
2020	7.97%	10.5%
2021	7.74%	10.1%
2022	7.51%	9.77%
2023	7.29%	9.43%